So---Chicago Marathon 2008---What Do I Have to Say?!?
By far, I must say that as a race, it was SO much better than last year. And, I hope that the same, if not more, amount of emails that were sent to complain last year were sent this year to give kudos to the organizers, numerous volunteers, etc. for ensuring effective communication of course conditions and providing an adequate arsenal of fluids!
When I saw the flags had changed from yellow to red, I grew a bit worried--"Will I actually get to complete the entire course this year before the color changes to black?!? I BETTER!" Then, there was the part of me secretly hoping that I could stop because in the moment...well...IT SUCKED! My quads cramped quite regularly beginning around 15 miles and when I went to stretch them the opposite hamstring would cramp. OUCH! My stretch ended up simply being a gradual pullover to the side of the course and slowly squatting to get a nice stretch.
I can hypothesize and overanalyze until I am purple in the face to wonder why I cramped so much. It was probably all that salt loss and I just may not have been replenishing my water adequately even though I thought I was. Nevertheless, I am armed with some salt tablets for NYC.
I was pretty much solo along the course throughout with an occasional bump into a Nike RunCHI friend here and there, but it was me, the handy iPod, and those random spectators that connected with me simply by reading my name sharpied onto my arms. "Ken, bro...you're doin' great!" This I would hear regularly as I walked through water stops and maybe afterwards even. Never did I hear, "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WALKING?!?" which was a big fear.
What highlights can I remember?
Well, LAKEVIEW ROCKS! I was SO energized by those crowds, it was AMAZING! It wasn't like the many other crowds I ran passed which were dead silent. My partner, Scott, described it perfectly as a graduation ceremony where they scream for their one person and then leave. Yeah, that kinda sucked. But, that's why I had iPod with Nike+ to talk to me. I simply popped those babies in my ears and the silence ceased.
FLEET FEET--I looked forward to getting to that point because I had my racing team singlet on and wanted to be spotted so I could collect an awesome picture later in the month! I hope you got me, Fleet Feet!!!!
CHINATOWN--Those are my people! What I remember from here was that I was walking in front of the camera but I think I did a good job of covering my bib. OH YEAH...AND, I remember the spectators being SO far into the middle of the street. BACK UP FOLKS! YOU WERE HOGGING SOME OF OUR NEEDED SHADE! I also remember having a point to run to, that being the bridge with shade so I could pull over and stretch AGAIN. As I was doing so, in front of spectators that left me alone (thank you!), one Asian lady came up to me in broken English and said, "You do a goot job...onry 2 mires to a go..." I said thank you while thinking to myself--WOMAN, DO YOU KNOW IT'S ACTUALLY 4 MORE?!? But, it was really cute and sweet of her. It was all with good intentions and I appreciated it. I went on my merry way to run through what felt like the desert until we made our way to state and part of Michigan which had some nice shade.
"ONE MILE TO GO" SIGN-- That----WAS---THE---LONGEST---MILE---OF---MY---LIFE! Here is shuffling Ken since about mile 23.5 ish. I can't remember. Ken isn't walking because he's suppose to run into his supporters between 22 and 26. I looked for EVERY yellow sign I could. I turned down my iPod. I didn't see anything. I didn't HEAR anything? Up Roosevelt I go...were people cheering or quiet again? I don't remember. I just remember still looking for signs. As I neared the top...nope...not them. I became bummed but quickly I caught a glimpse of...
"FINISH"
I forgot about that disappointment of "where the hell are they?!?" and made my way to the finish. Could I kick? Umm..NO... It was very much an "I think I can, I think I can, I KNOW I can!" moment.
I CROSSED THE FINISH LINE!
Overall, it was THE hardest thing I have EVER done/endured in my life. BUT, it was an awesome sense of accomplishment for my first marathon!!!
It is now Friday evening, October 31, and I am finishing this up as promised. The NYC Marathon is on Sunday and we are in our hotel room about to hit the sack and I hope that I can FINALLY sleep in!!!! I really need to because it's the most important night of sleep.
I'm REALLY excited about NYC. And, I've been approaching it from the standpoint of just another long run...just 3 weeks after tapering from Chicago's long run in the horrible heat. The weather is going to be PHENOMENAL with a high of 52. It is going to be VERY interesting learning what a marathon feels like when it's relatively cool out!!!
Nevertheless, I am going to another marathon and we'll see what ends up next up here. What will be my next chapter? How do I feel? What do YOU think I should do???
Don't worry. I'll re-cap NYC hopefully sooner than this tardy one.
Before I close, I do want to thank my supporters who donated to my cause for Chicago--American Liver Foundation, Illinois Chapter! We have raised $140k+ and were just shy of our $150k goal. Thank YOU for playing an awesome part!
Until next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment